Details

Growing up my family went on lots of vacations. We enjoyed going to historical places, learning historical facts and packing as much as we could in one day. As an adult this love of traveling and seeing places has never gone away. I know people who live in Beijing and don't care about seeing the historical places. They are like oh its just another temple or palace, boring. They don't care about the history left behind. I have even know people who have lived here for a year and haven't been to all the places I have been. For me its easy, I love seeing things. I figure while I am in Beijing I will see all that I can see! To me each time I go to a place is another adventure, and another discovery waiting to be found. Going to the same place twice has never bothered me. I enjoy seeing things in a different light each time.

Last week I traveled back to the Summer Palace for the third time. Some would say, three is a lot. But I had a great time! I saw things that I hadn't seen before. I began paying attention to the detail and hard work that went into building these places. Up on a hill are these beautifully decorated buildings. They were designed for prayer to Buddha. The building has layers of intricate wood craving and painting on it. This wasn't something that was manufactured, not it was done my hand. (most likely by slaves... but still the attention to detail is inspiring)

On the ends of every building are a specific amount of lions to protect the building. The roof tiles are painted a beautiful shiny green. On the bridges are lion statues for every post. These are small things but all these details make a wonderful sight. Its stopping and seeing the small thing. The first time you go to a place, you wouldn't notice these things. But the second and third time you start to notice.

I recommend to anyone who travels, to stop and look at the smallest detail of work that is put into things. Then stop and imagine how much time and energy it took to create these wonders. The amount of people it took, they didn't go the lazy way about. They didn't paint the building all red, no they stopped took their time and made a awe inspiring building.